this morning on "early today," southern slug fest. things get heated between newt gingrich and minimtt romney in t night's debate. bumper cars. weather the best of motorists in utah. or how the strongest solar eruption since005 could affect you. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello. good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with a fiery fight. a week to go before the florida primary, the republican candidates came swinging on a

debate last night on nbc. romney accused gingrich of, quote, influence pedaling. nbc steve handelsman reports from tampa. >> reporter: newt gingrich and mitt romney each with one primary win, tried to finish one another off in florida. >> i think it's about leadership and the speaker was given an opportunity to be the leads of our party in 1994 and at the end of four years he had to resign in disgrace. >> i think the american public deserve a discussion about how to beat barack obama and what we would do about the economy. i think this is the worst kind of trivivial plots. >> reporter: ron paul is not contending florida. rick santorum a week third, warns al qaeda could be active in cuba, but in a state hard hit by the housing crisis, freddie mac is an issue. the federally backed lender blamed by many for the mortgage mess.

newt gingrich worked for freddy and released his frcontract. >> you were making over a million dollars. at the same time, people in florida were hurt by millions of dollars. >> reporter: romney made millions in business. >> i'm proud of the fact that i pay a lot of taxes. >> i i'd like to bring everybody else down to mitt's rate. >> reporter: a moment of agreement in a night of comeback. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, tampa. some details now on the romney tax returns and the gingrich work for freddie mac. in 2010, romney paid about $3 million in federal tax on more than $21 million in income from his investments. charitable gifts reduced his tax rate to less than 14%. romney will pay about $2.1 million with an effective tax rate of more than 15%. newt gingrich released his contract with mortgage giant freddie mac for what were called, quote, consulting and related services.

he was paid a total of 1.6 million dollars for his eight years of work at freddie mac. tonight, the political spotlight shifts to president obama as he lays out his vision for the nation in his third state of the union address. tracy potts joins us from washington with a preview of tonight's speech. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: the argument for president obama second term and he previewed over the weekend in his weekly address some of what he'll talk about standing up for middle class families, rewarding hard work, and he is expected to chide congress for its inaction. the president reviewing his jobs plan and also national security, the end of the iraq war, the killing of osama bin laden, the arab spring, plus, we are told, new proposals for housing, manufacturing, and college and, yes, he will, again, call on the wealthy to pay more taxes. among those in attendance, look

for congresswoman gabrielle giffords is expected to attend tonight after announcing over the weekend she is stepping down from congress. her last event yesterday in tucson finishing that meet and greet where she was shot just over a year ago. >> tracy potts, thank you very much. nbc news will have live coverage of the president's state of the union address tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern time on this nbc station. here is a look at the stories making news early today in america. hours before last night's debate, presidential candidate rick santorum glitter bombed during a stop in florida. attackers yesterday stop the hate as security dragged him out. he claimed to be a part of the local open tampa movement and angry with santorum on gays' rights. a dramatic rescue caught on video after a snowmobiler got caught in an avalanche on sunday

in washington state. look closely there. the victim was at the bottom of the hill looking back up to see another snowmobiler who, unwittingly, caused the hill to give way, swallowing the victim below. other snowmobilers rushed to equity the mget the man quickly and dig him out. he is said to be okay. a rock slide in san francisco caused a boulder five feet wide to come down destroying a parked car. no one was hurt. in utah, when the they say take it ease on the road during bad weather is there a reason. this is youtube video that shows drivers slipping and sliding and, in some cases, crashing in the snow. i hate it when that happens. even four-wheel drive vehicles fell victim. now for a look at your national and region weather, there was planety plenty of it. here is meteorologist bill karins with a look at the

forecast. especially the tornadoes. >> this time yesterday, it was scary because when they were happening. over a hundred injuries. two fatalities. just an incredible scene. this is paradise valley northeast of birmingham and this is jefferson county, alabama. actually a spot the tornadoes went through back in the spring when we had the big huge one that went from tuscaloosa to birmingham. this is an area hit tomorrow night now, and a lot of people lost their homes and amazing we didn't have more fatalities. the pictures are incredible. the official count from our rare january tornado outbreak, it looks like there was about 12 total tornadoes. national weather service is still doing the surveys. we had more reports but some of those may have been long track tornadoes like this one may have been started here and gone through the area we just showed you the picks of. arkansas had their fair share of damage also. the that storm system responsible all of the tornadoes is safely up into canada and cold front is pushing off the east coast.

the cold front will take the moisture and clouds with it but leaving behind a lot of fog. especially here in the southeast. so keep that in mind for your morning travel. just not a lot of cold air on the map. it's cool in the northern plains, but for this time of morning and this time of the winter, these temperatures are mild around the country and no arctic air on the way. we will see more rain and thourms late this afternoon, especially in texas from sdals to san antonio pushing to new orleans and if you're traveling to the pacific northwest big rain storm there. we don't need the heavy winter coat as you go out that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. partly cloudy and 48 in boston? that's like april forecast. very mild air in place on the eastern seaboard as you go out this morning. temperatures not bad in the ohio valley. 41. a little above average. no pig snowstobig snowstorms an air. more storms in the forecast. >> this whole winter is like

bizarre in january. >> bizarre is what you're looking for. >> bill, thanks. coming up, apple applying pressure on iran. a. a new ring tone from a very unlikely artist. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. plus a if you -- few years ago, she dumped her prime time show for bigger and better things and now she is singing a different tune. stanley cup mvp snubs the president. you're watching "early today."

good morning. welcome back. i'm lynn berry. here are your top headlines this morning. a former cia officer has been arrested and facing charges of illegally disclosing classified information.

the u.s. supreme court voted unanimously nens allowing police to good gps technology to track suspects without first getting a judge's approval. some of the justices cited constitutional and privacy problems. kentucky senator rand paul set off an alarm in nashville airport on monday. he was detained after refusing to allow a security officer to pat him down. paul eventually caught a later flight. the sun may cause problems today. the strongest solar magnetic storm in six years could disrupt tv signals and power grids and astronaut on the international space station may need to shield themselves from increased solar radiation. now here is another look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. a new study says that reading books and doing puzzles lowers your risk of alzheimer's disease. researchers found that mentally stimulating activities throughout an adult's life is linked to fewer deposits of

harmful proteins in the brain which may slow progression of the disease. those findings were true for both women and men of any educational level. for more information on this, check out the health page at msnbc.com. now here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,7058, after losing 11 points. the s&p added a fraction. the nasdaq was down 2. take ago look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei was up 19 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng gained 167. a fourth quarter earnings will start early and roll in all day. tech titan apple weighs in after the closing bell. in late trade last night, texas instruments shares were up thanks to higher than expected revenue. earlier chesapeake energy was among the biggest movers rising

6%. the nation's second largest natural gas producer announced it will slash drilling by nearly half in response to prices that plunged 45% last year. oil irve oil inched toward a hundred dollars overseas. this after the european union decided yesterday to embarger imports of iranian oil. the u.s. treasury department moved against iran later in the say sanctioning iran's third largest bank one of tehran' fewest measures of trade. keep interest rates low in order to speed a finalized bailout. back on the street. blackberry maker research in motion lost 8% after its new chief revealed he has no plans for drastic changes at the company. macy's has filed suit against martha stewart living, claiming it violated an exclusive arrangement by agreeing to sell

the brand at rival jcpenney's. employees at disney theme parks will soon be allowed to grow beards and goatees for the first time ever. if you just can't get enough of president obama's rendition of al green's "let's stay together" at the apollo last week, you're in luck. it's now a ring tone you can download from his website. you knew that was coming, didn't you? coming up, the red wings fly. orlando has no magic. and partisan political division from a hockey goalie? plus the spurs and hornets battle down to the wire. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >> we don't have tornadoes in the forecast, but we also don't have any snowstorms. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, after a last night's matchup between the celtics and orlando magic, the question is who is the best? here is fred roggin with an early look at all of your sports headlines. good morning, after struggling the first month of the season the boston celtics appear to be turning things around and last night they simply dominated the magic. off to boston we go. celts held the magic to franchise low in points and

field goals. paul pierce scored 19 and orlando scored 20 points in the entire second half. celts beat the aj make by 31. great finish in new orleans. spurs up two. 13 seconds to play. jarrett jack threw up a wild layup. landry there to tip it in and the score is tied. plenty of time for tim duncan. running hook and nothing but net. he had 28 but none bigger than that one. the spurs win. kevin love had a field day against the rockets. 39 points and 12 boards but that wasn't enough. the t'wolves fell apart in the fourth and minnesota needed more love. the red wings beat the blues at home. datsyuk scored his 14th goal of the season. if it seems like every week another championship team at the

white house, you're right. dallas mavericks and st. louis cardinals visited the president earlier this month. yesterday, it was the boston bruins turn. the stanley cup champs made the trip to washington, d.c. but notice abundant was the goalie tim thomas. he snubbed the president, tweeted that he believes the federal government has grown out of control, threatening the rights and liberties of the people and exercised his right as a citizen not to visit the white house. as far as the nhl is concerned, tim thomas is now in the dog house. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. the queen of soul says not so fast. the latest on a controversial former couple. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, republican presidential candidates are attacked with shovels and a bulldozer in south carolina? we'll explain. you're watching "early today."

today" on this tuesday morning. can leave the gloves behind in dc to philly with highs in the low 50s. rain develop this morning and maybe a few severe thunderstorms in south texas and heavy rain threat continue the next two days through the deep south so looks like we will get some beneficial rain. if you're watching on wjhd, beautiful panama city, florida.

explore the 20th century japan in woven and wrapped at the pens cola museum of art. that is your "early today" event of the today. here is an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. when it comes to wedding bells, aretha franklin put hers on hold. the 69-year-old queen of soul put off per summer wedding. she and her groom to be felt they were moving a little bit too fast. chris brown is shutting down rumors he and rihanna are back together insisting he is dating an up and coming model. finally, katherine heigl who ended her run on "grey's anatomy" a few years ago to pursue her movie career says she wish she hadn't. she is possibly approaching the show on possibly returning. i don't know if you caught any of those heigl movies she did.

i'm the only one that enjoys those bad romantic comedies. >> a lot she has been in. >> didn't work out so well. wmbs news in myrtle beach, south carolina, mud slinging doesn't involve mud but sand. a hundred women from a local democrat group showed up yesterday to tear down a giant sand castle featuring the likeness of republican presidential candidates. they used pink shovels and a bulldozer to obliterate the artwork. republicans who paid for this sculpture are not amused but organizers say it was all meant in good fun. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

4:28 and 44 degrees. warmer than it has been, but you can still see the haze and fog. low hanging clouds on this 24th day of january. good morning you to, i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this tuesday, january 24, 2012. today, d.c. police chief kathy lanier will testify before a house subcommittee about the occupy d.c. encampment in mcpherson square. congressman darrell issa who chairs the government reform she and holding the meeting.

in the past he's said he wanted protesters removed from federal lands because of concern about rats and damage to public property. a controversial effort is underway on capitol hill to rededicate the d.c. war memorial to all americans who fought in world war i. the memorial sits on independence avenue west of 17th street, near the tidal basin. it was dedicated back in 1931 to salute the 26,000 washingtonians who fought in the great war. representative ted poe of texas is sponsoring a bill that would turn it into a national monument. city leaders plan to fight that. congress allocated $7.3 million in stimulus found restore the monument. those renovations were completed in november. the man accused of trying to kill president obama by firing a gun at the white house will be formally charged today. oscar ramiro ortega hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned in court this afternoon. last week a grand jury indicted him on charge of assaulting three federal officers and